By Osagie Alonge
The last two and a half weeks have been quite entertaining for Nigerians who have followed the NDLEA/Baba Suwe drama. Without paying a dime to buy or rent his movies, we have enjoyed every bit of a comedy series that doesn’t look like its ending soon.
Let’s do a short recap: On Wednesday, October 12, 2011 Baba Suwe (real name Babatunde Omidina) was reported in several papers to have been arrested by the National Drug Law and Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on suspicion of possession of hard drugs believed to be Cocaine while attempting to depart Lagos for Paris on a 10pm scheduled Air France flight AF3051. He was immediately taken into custody and placed under ‘observation’ where the NDLEA said he ‘tested positive to Drug Ingestion’.
The news of Baba Suwe’s supposed ‘arrest’ spread like wild fire and even made its way to foreign online publications like BBC.com and Yahoo News. Trust social networks like Facebook and Twitter to have already made the news a trending topic. It wasn’t the first time a Nigerian actor would be detained over the suspicion of possession of hard drugs but Baba Suwe is practically known by everybody. The search for hard substances in his excrete soon became a global concern.
The NDLEA through their rep Ofoyeju Mitchell later on disclosed to the general public that they never arrested the actor but that he was only detained by their officials. ‘There is reasonable ground for suspicion and the actor is currently under observation’, Hamza Umar, NDLEA Airport commander disclosed. As of the sixth day in NDLEA custody, the actor had excreted three times but nothing was found.
Today makes it 17 full days in detention for a now embattled Baba Suwe and tongues have started wagging. Some believe that that the actor should have been released after his third day in custody but a Federal High Court on Friday, October 21, 2011 approved the request made by the NDLEA to further keep the accused in custody for 15 more days. The request which was made through NDLEA’s lawyer, Theresa Asuquo was granted by Justice Okechukwu Okeke.
Reports also say that a 29-paragraph affidavit presented by an NDLEA intelligence officer, Femi Johnson Osifuye and a CT scan result issued by a consultant radiologist from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Dr. Subhash Vijayvargiya further suggested that Baba Suwe has ‘large amounts of drugs’ in his body.
The NDLEA also made known to the court that Baba Suwe while under observation refused to eat, claiming that he eats only once in three days. Hence they reason for keeping him longer.
This however didn’t stop a ‘Fundamental Rights Group’ to drag the NDLEA to court and even sue them for N100M (One hundred million Naira). On Tuesday, October 26, 2011, a fundamental enforcement rights suit was filed at the Lagos high Court, Ikeja presided over by Justice Yetunde Idowu. Justice Idowu ordered the NDLEA to produce Baba Suwe in court on Tuesday, November 1, 2011 in suit for the enforcement of his ‘fundamental rights’.
Baba Suwe’s son, Adesola Omidina in an affidavit before the court made it known that his father told him that he eats thrice daily and has excreted eight times so far. The affidavit further stated that his father has been a diabetic patient for over five years and is in danger of death.
However, the NDLEA say they are still observing. ‘We are still investigating, thank you’, Ofoyeju told Nigerian Entertainment last week. The 15-day custody will end on November 5, 2011.
20 comments
Babe Suwe, Almighty Allah will guide u from dis.
Make them leave this man alone ooooo Abi NDLEA want make he cheat his intestine
Only God knows d truth. D truth shall prevail
N-I-G-E-R-I-A-N, you don come again. I still repeat this, @ 51. I reserve my comment let that 15 days pass.
Poor Baba Suwe,I pray nothing happens to you while in the care of these NDLEA people.God will surely vindicate the innocent,let’s watch and see how this drama will end.
IF BY NOVEMBER 5TH NOTHING IS FOUND. THE MD (DOCTOR) THAT DID THE CT SCAN INTERPRETING SHOULD BE RIPPED OF HIS/SER MEDICAL LICENSE. I HOPE BABA SUWE WON’T DISAPPOINT US HIS FANS
What a mess!!!!!!!!
Leave this man alone, is another thing NDLEA system was detecting.
NDLEA is crazy, you can’t hold someone for more than 24 hours without it being regarded as an arrest, The Judge that granted the appeal by NDLEA to hold Baba Suwe for 15 more days should be queried. Him having excreted over 3 times without an illegal substances found should be enough grounds for his release, along with a public apology on live TV by the head of the NDLEA and proper compensation. I just hope the Legal counsel to Baba Suwe presses ahead with the lawsuit and a judge grants their request for award of damages in the tune of hundreds of millions of Naira
Dis is rili rili unfair.i just pray baba suwe shuld b set free imediately afta d 15 daiz…
NDLEA Should release dis man, cos dis could have affect him in so many ways…abi
NDLEA I DONT THINK THEY KNOW WHAT THEY WERE DOING,and those their customer {original cocaine pusher}in the country are passing all the time under thier manipulated dictector marchine without any problem.{EFI BABA ADERINPAOSONU YI SILE O O O.
i’m so sure that justice will prevail over this issue………just for NDLEA to say the truth.God bless Nigeria
Pls o make dem leave baba suwe alone we they beg u on behalf of all fans of baba Suwe pls make dem think about his children NDLEA Should know dat dere are many rich people in dis country including all d people dat ar doing investigation on baba suwe case. 4 sure example our former government in ogun state OTUNBA GBENGA DANIEL and so many people like dat in dis country even in NDLEA dat ar using dis is drugs
Baba suwe,NA GOD GO HELP U OOOOO,and ur family.
Jst hope baba suwe is nt found guilty…NDLEA should consider his children,loved ones,family and fans of the accussed person…THE TRUTH will prevail and the lord shall set u free(amen)
Baba Suwe, i pray God see u tru all these mess. D truth shall prevail.
I think d NDLEA should pls live BABA SUWE alone,since he was not found guilty.EMA FIYAJE ALAISE OO…..
if you say he should be release then who is default the scanning machine or the doctor that also detected the drugs pls let justice be done and let us put all sentiments apart.
I keep wondering why Nigeria refuses to move forward. If two machines shows a man to have ingested a large amount of drugs, if these drugs were wrapped with a membrane, the metabolism would have affected it’s breakdown and would have busted, but were a none digestible nylon is used, then, there is the tendency of it been in the stomach for longer time. Lets leave the NDLEA to do their job. If Baba Suwe has nothing in his stomach, then NDLEA should be pay for it, if Baba Suwe has something to hide, then he will pay for it. Don’t let us forget that Baba Suwe was once arrested in the UK for drugs, so keep your fingers crossed. There is also the tendency of any officer on duty to assist Baba suwe to discard the drugs, if he even excrete it. Nigeria we hail thee. Personally, I doubt, if the two machines would have claimed to see drugs, if the drugs were not there in the beginning. The idea of suing will be slim, as I have said earlier, This man was once arrested for same offence in the Uk. Some of us are blaming the judge, if the judge had a physical scan picture and test result that Baba Suwe tested positive and had drugs in his stomach, what then do we expect him or her to do? Stop blaming anybody till the outcome of the end result.